Shotlist

"But the American people are begging us for more than thoughts and prayers. They want action and guess what, they want it now. Because they know that this is a critical moment in our history. That is why I've cosponsored the bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would require background checks for firearm transfers between private parties. This bill passed the House and I call on the Senate and Mitch McConnell to take it up and consider the measures. And then I want the president to sign it."

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D) Maryland:

"We must also stop the hateful incendiary comments. We've got to do it. Those at highest levels of government, must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior. It only creates more division among us and severely limits our ability to work together for the common good."

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D) Maryland:

"As a country we finally must say that enough is enough. That we are done with the hateful rhetoric, that we are done with the mass shootings, that we are done with the white supremacist domestic terrorists who are terrorizing our country and fighting against everything America stands for and everything our phenomenal military has fought for."

++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D) Maryland:

"We must stand together with those who we do not look like, those who we disagree with and recognize that we have more in common than we have that separates us."

Storyline

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings says government officials must stop making "hateful, incendiary comments" that only to serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.

Cummings, the Democratic chairman of the House Oversight Committee, did not name President Donald Trump in remarks Wednesday, but it was clear whom he was addressing.

Trump disparaged Cummings and his native Baltimore in a barrage of tweets and comments in recent days.

In a long-scheduled speech to the National Press Club, Cummings said: "Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior." Doing so, Cumming s added, "creates more division among us and severely limits our ability to work together for the common good. "